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Summer 2020 of pandemic teaching is over. It was a very intense semester and I learned a LOT. I thought I would share a few things in case it helps others with prep. To start, here are 5 things that worked really well that I will be doing again in Fall.
1) Drop in “coffee hour.” I scheduled 30 minutes of optional synchronous time each week to chat with whoever showed up. No recording, no slides, no new content, no attendance. We chatted about whatever they wanted: readings, assignments, pets etc. It was a highlight.
2) Multimodal forum posts. I teach English and most of my students default to writing in forums. But some weeks instead of posting questions I’d post “media challenges” and ask them to post pictures/videos, link to current events/research, or read something out loud.
3) Weekly (ungraded, unmonitored) checklists of what to read/watch/do. I avoided this one at first, but in Week 4 my 1st year students said they were feeling overwhelmed and wanted a clear list to help them time manage/organize. It received tons of use and positive feedback.
4) Flexible deadlines. I’m usually pretty easy going with extensions, but I think I gave 40+ extensions in addition to having some rolling deadlines. That speaks to the overwhelm. Extensions kept me in contact with struggling students and helped a few get through the course
5) 20 minute (max) asynchronous lectures. It was a huge challenge, but it forced me to be succinct and get to the heart of the content. And, I saw students engage with lectures in new ways - the short format & ability to re-listen/pause made a huge difference for some students.
